Paraffin cutting and scraping tool



April 2, 1940. A. K. WISE PARAFFIN CUTTING AND SCRAPING TQOL Filed Jan. 51, 1939 Patented Apr. 2, 1940 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE PARAFFIN CUTTING AND SCRAPING TOOL Alpha K. Wise, Kilgore, Tex., assignor of onehalf to Louis R. Wise, Avoca, Tex.

Application January 31, 1939, Serial No. 253,884

6 Claims.

the side walls of the tubing and be withdrawn from said tubing.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a combined cutting and scraping tool for paraflin in oil well tubing, said tool including a body.

portion formed of fins which act as guides for the tool with the fins having tapered lower portions and cutting edges, the body portion being provided with a movable disc having a beveled edge, said disc being movable to an inoperative vertical position on the down stroke for aiding in cutting the paraflin and movable to a horizontal position on the upstroke for forcing the cut paraiiin from the tubing.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a combined cutting and scraping tool for parafiin in oil well tubing; said tool including a body portion formed of fins which act as guides for the tool with the fins having tapered lower portions and cutting edges, the body portion being provided with a movable disc having a beveled edge, said disc being movable to an inoperative vertical position on the down stroke for aiding in cutting the paraffin and movable to a horizontal position on the upstroke for forcing the cut paraffin from the tubing, guides being located above and below the disc for properly positioning said disc in either a vertical or horizontal position.

This invention will be best understood from a consideration of the following detailed description, in view of the accompanying drawing forming a part of the specification; nevertheless, it is to be understood that the invention is not confined to the disclosure, being susceptible of such changes and modifications as define no material departure from the salient features of the invention as expressed in the appended claims.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a side view in elevation showing the combined cutting and scraping tool,

Figure 2 is a similar view in elevation of the tool but at right angles to the position shown in Fig. 1,

Figure 3 is a horizontal section taken along the line 3-3 of Fig. 1,

Figure 4 is a bottom view in perspective of the scraper, and

Figure 5 is a horizontal section taken along the line 5-5 of Fig. 1.

Referring more particularly to the drawing, l0 designates in dotted lines an oil well tubing into which the tool is inserted. Said tool consists of a body portion generally designated by the numeral II and this body portion is connected by a shank l2 to a rod I 3 which is adapted to raise 10 or lower the tool in the tubing I 0. The member i2 is threaded at H into the rod I 3.

The body-portion consists of a fiat piece of metal l5 which is rounded at its upper end, as shown at It, and connected at I! in any approved manner to the lower end of the shank I2. The side edges I8 of the member l5 are fiat and the width of said member is such that the side edges l8 are slightly spaced from the side walls of the tubing l0. Below the side edges iii of the member l5, said member is tapered inwardly and the side edges of the tapered portions, as shown at 20, are provided with knife edges so that said member will cut through the paraflin as it is lowered in the tubing Ill.

The member I5 is provided with a centrally disposed slot I which terminates short of the upper end of the member l5 but extends entirely through the lower end.

A second blade 22 also has straight side edges 30 23 for a portion of its length and from the lower end of said side edges the blade is tapered, as shown at 24, and the side edges of the tapered portion are provided with knife edges 25. The lower end of the member 22 extends below the lower end of the member IS. The member 22 has its central portion fitted within the slot 2| and terminates at its upper end in the lower face of a scraping disc 30.

This scraping disc has its periphery, as shown at 3|, sheared ofi at an angle so that the periphery is beveled with the lower face of less area than the upper face. Thus a substantially sharp edge is provided along the upper edge, as shown at 32, to facilitate the removal of the paraffine or the scraping of the walls of the well tubing Ill. The diameter of the upper surface of the disc is less than the width of the upper ends or the members l5 and 22 so that the edge 32 does not come in contact with the walls of the tubing while the side edges of the members 15 and 22 guide the tool and also maintain the disc out of contact with the wall. This disc is provided with radially disposed slots 33 and 34 which are separated by a cross piece 35 and this cross piece is adapted to be received within the slot 2| formed in the member I5. The member 35 and the slots 33 and 34 will permit the disc to be slipped onto the member l5 while permitting the disc to be tilted either to a vertical position in dotted lines in Fig. 1 or to a horizontal position as shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

An arm 40 is connected to the member 22 below the disc 30 and is provided with a pair of oppositely disposed inclined surfaces 4! and 42 upon which the beveled portion 3| of the disc is adapted to ride as will be presently explained.

An arm 43 is also connected to the member 22 above the disc 30 and has a downwardly curved edge 44 which engages the upper face of the disc 30. It will be noted that the arm I4 is located and secured to one face of the member [5 while the arm 43 is secured to the opposite face.

The operation of my device is as follows: When the tool is inserted into the well the knife edges 20 and 25 will cut through the parafiin which is clogging the tubing while the disc 30 will be moved upwardly when it engages the paraflin and cause it to tilt at an angle at one point. The opposite point of the disc, however, will ride upon the inclined surface 4| and 42 while the connecting member 35 will move upwardly within the slot 2|. The pressure of the paraffin on the descending disc 3| will force the upper face of the disc against the curved portion 44 of the arm 43. Since one portion of the disc is free to move outwardly the disc will be moved towards a vertical position and as had been previously stated the inclined faces 4| and 42 of the arm 42 will guide the disc to the vertical position, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1.

On the upstroke of the tool the disc will again be moved to the horizontal position and since it substantially covers the cross sectional area of the tubing it will cause the paraflin which has been cut into a number of pieces to be drawn upwardly as the rod I3 is pulled upwardly so that the paraflin will be removed very readily.

When the blade has been moved upwardly or downwardly the edges of the slots 33 and 34 provide a wiping action upon opposite sides of the body portion of the tool l5 thereby preventing any accumulation of parafiin that would tend to interfere with the movement of the blade.

It will be seen that the blade 30 by the medium of the slots 33 and 34 will always move in a predetermined position and will have its semicircular portions upon opposite sides of the body portion l5 equally spaced from the said body portion. In other words the construction of the blade and its association with the body portion tends to uniformly maintain the blade in a. predetermined position relative to the body portion so that the blade will not have such displacement as to permit a greater portion of the blade to be located upon one side of the body portion than on the other.

I claim:

1. A tool having a body portion composed of a plurality of radially disposed fins acting as guides, said fins tapering inwardly at the lower ends, the tapering portions being provided with cutting edges, and a scraper movably mounted on the body and adapted to be positioned horizontally on the upstroke and vertically on the downstroke, said scraper being composed of two sections, the inner edges of the sections being spaced apart, a bridging member rigidly connecting the sections together, said bridging member cooperating with the fins for guiding the scraper longitudinally of the body.

2. A tool having a body portion composed of a plurality of radially disposed fins acting as guides, said fins being provided with cutting edges, 9. scraper movably mounted on the body, spaced cam arms on one of the fins for guiding the scraper between horizontal and vertical positions relative to the longitudinal axis of the body, the scraper being adapted for movement into horizontal position on the upstroke and into vertical position on the downstroke of the tool, said scraper, when in horizontal position, being disposed between the cam arms and supported on the upper ends of certain of said fins.

3. A tool having a body portion composed of a plurality of radially disposed fins acting as guides,

said fins tapering inwardly at the lower ends, the

tapering portions being provided with cutting edges, a scraper in the form of a disc having the periphery beveled, and means cooperating with the beveled edge of the disc for causing said disc to be moved to an inoperative vertical position.

4. A tool for cutting and scraping parafiin from oil well tubing, comprising a body having fins for guiding the tool axially of the tubing. said fins having knives for cutting the paraffin into strips, a scraper rockably supported by the body for removing the cut paraifin, means on one of the fins for causing the scraper to be tilted to a vertical position for aiding in cutting the paraflin while permitting the body to pass downwardly through the tubing, said scraper being movable to a horizontal position and supported on the upper ends of a pair of the fins on the upstroke for scraping the parafiln from said tubing.

5. A tool for cutting and scraping paraffin from oil well tubing, comprising a body having fins for guiding the tool axially of the tubing, said fins having knives for cutting the parafiin into strips, a scraper supported on the upper ends of a pair of the fins in a horizontal position for removing the cut parafiin, said scraper being tiltable to a vertical position in alignment with the longitudinal axis of the body for aiding in cutting the paraflin while permitting the body to pass downwardly through the tubing, said scraper being movable to a horizontal position on the upstroke for scraping the paraflin from said tubing, and means on the tool for guiding the scraper to a vertical position.

6. A tool for cutting and scraping parafiin from an oil well tubing comprising a body formed of longitudinal plates, one of the plates having a longitudinal slot to receive the other plate and extending above the second plate, a disc forming a scraper resting upon the upper end of the second-mentioned plate and adapted to be moved to a horizontal or vertical position, said disc being provided with aligned radial slots to receive the first plate, the portion of the disc between the radial slots being movable through the longitudinal slot when the disc is tilted to a vertical position or supported in a. horizontal position.

A. K. WISE. 

